Second-Half Surge Gives Tribe Win over Liberty

Making its 2012-13 Vines Center debut, the Liberty men's basketball team played host to William & Mary, Monday night. Despite the Flames holding a 15-point lead at halftime, the Tribe responded in the second half, outscoring Liberty, 32-5 over an 11:52 span to earn a 71-59 decision.

Liberty falls 0-2 on the year, while William & Mary begins its season with a 2-0 start. The Flames are now 4-3 all-time against the Tribe. William & Mary has won two straight games inside the Vines Center.

William & Mary shot 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field, while holding the Flames to 39.7 percent (23-of-58).

The Flames jumped out to an 8-1 advantage in the opening 2:31. Speaks and Jarred Jourdan kicked off the burst with a pair of layups. After a made free throw by Britt, Jourdan posted another basket to extend the Flames' lead to five. A big block by Sommy Ogukwe at the other end set up a fast break jumper by Marshall at 17:29 to cap the run.

The Tribe countered Liberty's quick start with a 10-0 run over the next 3:33. Thornton sealed the surge with a fast break layup at the 13:56 mark. Chad Donley answered with a three-pointer 1:23 later to knot the contest at 11.

A seesaw battle commenced, with the two squads trading the lead. With the Tribe up by two, a Marshall three-pointer gave the Flames a one-point advantage. A pair of free throws reclaimed the lead for William & Mary, but a Speaks jumper put Liberty back on top at the 9:29 mark. Casey Roberts then bolstered the lead with an old-fashioned three-point play, putting the Flames up 20-16 with 7:57 remaining in the period.

The three-pointers continued to fly for the Flames. Marshall's second long-distance jumper of the contest expanded Liberty's cushion to eight at 5:07. Another trey by John Caleb Sanders three minutes later widened the gap to 10, 32-22.

Liberty held the Tribe scoreless from the field during the remaining 2:05 of the half and posted six points via buckets by Speaks, Sanders and Marshall to take a 38-23 lead at halftime.

Liberty finished the first half shooting 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field, including 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from three-point land. William & Mary was held to 31.6 percent shooting, hitting 6-of-19 shots. After posting nine three-pointers against Hampton on Friday, the Tribe went 0-for-7 from downtown in the opening half.

Inside, the Flames outscored William & Mary in the paint, 21-6, and held a 19-9 advantage in rebounds. Marshall paced Liberty with 10 tallies in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting, followed by Speaks with eight points. Tarpey led the Tribe with six points.

In the second half, the Tribe more than erased its first-half deficit on the strength of the previously mentioned 32-5 run. The burst included a trio of three-pointers from Rusthoven, Tarpey and Britt. The downtown jumper by Britt gave the Tribe the lead at the 12:13 mark, 43-41. After a pair of William & Mary free throws, Andrew Smith halted a six-minute Liberty scoring drought with a thunderous two-handed jam, making it 48-43 in favor of the Tribe at 10:05. The Tribe countered with seven straight points, finishing out the extended run with a 55-43 advantage.

The Flames answered with an 8-0 burst. After back-to-back three pointers by Roberts, Marshall followed up with a fast break layup to pull the home team within four, 55-51, at 5:31.

Liberty got as close as three with 2:40 left, thanks to made free throws by Speaks. The Tribe then responded with six straight points to up the advantage to nine with 1:32 remaining. From there, the Flames were forced to foul, ultimately leading to the 71-59 final.

In a tale of two halves, William & Mary shot 60.0 percent (15-of-25) from the field, while holding Liberty to 22.6 percent (7-of-31) after halftime. The Tribe's sharp shooting in the second half included a 4-of-8 effort from the three-point line. The visitors turned the tide around the basket during the second period, to ultimately win the battle in the paint, 34-29. William & Mary also outrebounded the Flames in the second half, 24-15.

Liberty heads to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to take on BIG EAST power Georgetown inside the Verizon Center. The Flames' first-ever meeting with the Hoyas is part of the Progressive Legends Classic. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.